Commentary
20% of US Households Account for 50% of Income
- by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, September 19, 2008
The 2008 Ipsos Mendelsohn Affluent Survey, measuring male and female heads of household living in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., who have household incomes of $100,000 or more, represents an estimated 19% of all American adults. The 2008 survey results are projected to an estimated 42 million affluent heads of house living in an estimated 23.3 million households.
The U.S. government's estimate of total household income as of the beginning of 2008 is approximately $8 trillion. The Survey estimate of total affluent ($100,000+) household income is approximately $4.6 trillion, an estimated 20% percent of all U. S. households, accounting for more than one half of all U. S. household income.
It is clear that the affluent market segments that Ipsos Mendelsohn surveys annually contain extraordinarily valuable marketing targets. Affluent Survey subscribers target their markets in many different ways. These include, but are not limited to, the following approaches:
Another way of segmenting the affluent marketplace is to focus on an estimated 2,672,000 households that have have liquid assets (financial accounts including CD's, mutual funds, stocks, bonds, etc.) of $1 million or more and an estimated 2,525,000 households have incomes of $250,000 or more. Or, 1,029,000 households that have household incomes of $250,000 or more and liquid assets of $1 million or more.
The Affluent Survey estimates that within the affluent marketplace there are 4,168,000 households in total that could be reached by using one of these specific targeting approaches.
Examples of the findings are included here, though the PDF file of complete results and additional charts and graphs is linked for your convenience.
When compared with the balance of the population, affluent heads of house are known to be heavy readers of magazines/publications. Internet usage tends to increase with affluence as well. These patterns hold across the affluent segments.
Affluent Media Consumption | |
Average number of publication titles read among readers | 8.0 (over measured time period) |
Average number of publication issues read among readers | 17.9 (over measured time period) |
Average number of hours spent watching television per week among viewers | 19.5 hours |
Average number of hours spent listening to radio per week among listeners | 11.3 hours |
Average number of hours spent using Internet per week among users | 23.4 hours |
Source: Ipsos Mendelsohn, September 2008 | |
Media Consumption by Income | |||
| Household Income | ||
| $100,000 - $149,999 | $150,000 - $249,999 | $250,000 or more |
Average Number of Magazine/Publication Issues Read Among Readers | 15.8 | 18.8 | 25.5 |
Average Number of Hours Listened to Radio per Week Among Listeners | 11.4 | 11.1 | 10.9 |
Average Number of Hours Watched TV per Week Among Viewers | 20.0 | 19.2 | 17.8 |
Average Number of Hours Used Internet per Week Among Users | 21.8 | 25.1 | 27.4 |
Source: Ipsos Mendelsohn, September 2008 | |||
Averages of publications read are limited to those measured in the Affluent Survey
Cable Network and Broadcast Television Audiences:
- Proportion of affluent heads of house who view cable television... 95%
- Proportion of affluent households that own a satellite dish...29%
- Average number of cable TV networks viewed among past-7-day viewers... 16.1
Audiences Viewing Television (in Past Seven Days) | |
Cable Network | Total Affluent Heads of House Viewing (000) |
A&E (Arts & Entertainment Network) | 20,829 |
AMC (American Movie Classics | 15,569 |
APL (Animal Planet | 14,267 |
BBC America | 6,645 |
BET (Black Entertainment Television) | 3,087 |
Biography Channel | 10,610 |
Bloomberg Television | 3,554 |
BRV (Bravo) | 10,862 |
CMT (Country Music Television) | 9,272 |
CNBC | 18,947 |
CNN | 26,267 |
Comedy Central | 17,293 |
CSTV (College Sports Television) | 5,138 |
DISC (The Discovery Channel) | 25,414 |
DIY Network | 7,217 |
DSNY (Disney Channel) | 12,936 |
E! Entertainment TV | 15,766 |
ESPN | 22,069 |
ESPN Classic. | 9,833 |
ESPN2 | 15,901 |
ESPNEWS | 10,285 |
FAM (ABC Family Channel) | 13,477 |
Food Network | 19,827 |
Fox Sports Net | 15,321 |
FOXNC (Fox News Channel) | 17,235 |
FX | 12,819 |
GOLF (The Golf Channel) | 7,043 |
HGTV (Home and Garden TV) | 18,182 |
HIST (The History Channel) | 21,942 |
HLN (Headline News) | 10,546 |
Lifetime Television | 13,480 |
MSNBC | 15,856 |
MTV | 7,552 |
National Geographic Channel | 14,707 |
Nickelodeon/Nick at Nite | 8,949 |
Oxygen | 6,121 |
Sci-Fi Channel | 9,471 |
Science Channel | 6,180 |
SPEED Channel | 4,812 |
Spike TV . | 8,638 |
Style Network | 2,900 |
TBS (TBS Superstation) | 16,894 |
TLC (The Learning Channel) | 15,875 |
TNT (Turner Network TV) | 16,136 |
TRAV (The Travel Channel) | 10,814 |
TruTV (formerly Court TV) | 4,819 |
TV Land | 6,640 |
USA Network | 16,205 |
VH-1 | 6,710 |
WE (Women's Entertainment) | 4,764 |
The Weather Channel | 20,933 |
WGNC (WGN Cable) | 4,660 |
| |
Broadcast Networks |
|
ABC | 32,518 |
CBS | 31,684 |
Fox | 31,985 |
NBC | 32,395 |
PBS | 17,991 |
Source: Ipsos Mendelsohn, September 2008 | |
Although virtually all affluent households own and use computers and cell/mobile devices, only 40 percent currently use their cell/mobile devices for Internet access. However, Internet access via cell/mobile devices clearly rises with increased affluence.
Internet and Cell Phone Usage (% of Respondents) | ||
| Own and Use in Household | Use to Access Internet |
Desktop/Laptop | 98% | 96% |
Cell/Mobile | 97% | 40% |
Source: Ipsos Mendelsohn, September 2008 | ||
Cell Phone/Mobile Devices Used to Access Internet (% of Respondents) | |
Total | 40% |
HHI $100,000 to $149,999 | 34% |
HHI $150,000 to $249,999 | 46% |
HHI $250,000 or more | 57% |
Source: Ipsos Mendelsohn, September 2008 | |
The affluent connect frequently to the Internet both on their computers and on their cell/mobile devices. But, not surprisingly, their average number of activities and purchases are more numerous and varied on their computers. Affluent heads of house use a variety of sites to search for information:
Websites Used by Head of House to Search for Information | ||
| Past 7 days | Past 30 days |
75% | 82% | |
Yahoo | 44% | 51% |
MSN.com | 23% | 26% |
AOL.com | 17% | 20% |
Ask.com | 8% | 12% |
About.com | 4% | 7% |
Lycos.com | 1% | 2% |
Source: Ipsos Mendelsohn, September 2008 | ||
Average Number of Times per Week Connect to Internet (Among Users) with: | ||
Cell/Mobile | 17.6 | |
Computer | 25.9 | |
| ||
Average Number of Activities/Purchases on Internet (Among Users) | ||
| Cell/Mobile | Computer |
Total Activities | 4.0 | 20.4 |
Purchases | 2.5 | 8.0 |
Source: Ipsos Mendelsohn, September 2008 | ||
For more detail, discussion and charts and graphs, please view the The 2008 Ipsos Mendelsohn Affluent Survey in PDF format here.
Jack Loechner is the Editor of The Center for Media Research's daily Research Brief. You can reach him at jack@mediapost.com.